matthewdcorley
Explorer
Support the KS here.
In the latter half of the 19th century Chicago grew from a town of a few thousand farmers to a sprawling metropolis of skyscrapers and a population of over 500,000. Those final decades were associated with rampant growth, progress, and innovations culminating in the World’s Exposition of 1893. Yet Chicago’s emergence to prominence was not without tragedy. The Great Chicago Fire of 1871 nearly reduced the city to embers. Riots and strikes broke out. And there was the World's Exposition.
The bustle of the World’s Expo hid an appalling snake in the grass, Mr. Herman Webster Mudgett, aka Dr Henry Howard Holmes. Holmes would become infamous as America’s first serial killer and proprietor of The Murder Castle. He confessed to 27 murders, and was purported to have killed as many as 200 victims before his capture. Some believed he may have been Jack the Ripper. Others knew him as a devil.
Within this Kickstarter you’ll find two books: The Devil’s City, a novella, and Horror in the Windy City, a full-length RPG campaign sourcebook expanding the Whispers in the Dark RPG universe. Whispers in the Dark is compatible with the 5th edition of the world's oldest rpg and set in a world adjacent to our own. The books can be enjoyed independently, but when conjoined they offer the players, readers, and game masters a truly immersive experience.
The Devil's City is an illustrated, hardcover, limited edition novella by Bram Stoker award winner Sara Tantlinger and Matt Corley. Within its 90 pages the book follows H.H. Holmes as he stalks and captures five victims through chaos and confusion of the 1893 World's Exposition. Each chapter begins with a diary entry from the devil himself, and contains evocative illustrations to bring the chapter to life.
Horror in the Windy City brings the excitement, intrigue, and beautiful chaos of the time period to your table using the 5e rules you already know as adapted by the acclaimed Whispers in the Dark RPG written and developed by Matt Corley and M.T. Black. The beautifully illustrated 180+ page book is a fully realized campaign sourcebook covering Chicago in the latter half of the 19th century. There are new rules, backgrounds, a new alignment system, NPCs, scenarios, and more. In short, it’s everything you’ll need to take your party of investigators to Chicago. It will be up to them to find their way out.
Thanks for support,
matt